​SAN DIEGO (Oct. 31, 2016) — Three of San Diego’s most experienced communications professionals have launched a new advertising and public relations firm offering a robust array of services to local, state and national clients.

​Tony Manolatos, principal of Apex Strategies, has joined with Bob Nelson and Kelly Murphy Lamkin, principals of BNA Communications, to form Manolatos Nelson Murphy Advertising & Public Relations.

​“MNM offers our clients a broader and richer range of services and expertise by uniting an established advertising firm with an established public relations firm,” Manolatos said.

MNM Advertising & PR offers five core areas of service:

Strategic planning

Media relations

Online, print and broadcast advertising

Coalition building

Crisis communications

“We’re thrilled to be able to offer a new model that more fully meets our clients’ needs,” Nelson said. “There’s nothing like it in San Diego.”

​SAN DIEGO (Oct. 27, 2016) – An immigrant and resident of a Community HousingWorks (CHW) community in San Diego’s Southcrest neighborhood took the spotlight and inspired the audience with her story at CHW’s annual DreamBuilder fundraiser last week at the Central Library.

Karen Sanchez, who was 13 years old when her family moved into CHW’s Las Serenas community, spoke about how the resources CHW provided helped her realize her dream of going to college and giving back to the community.

“My family moved here without anything, and despite working very hard, they were not able to give me much financial support,” Sanchez said. “Under those circumstances, I saw college as out of my reach.”

The Los Angeles Chargers? The prospect of San Diego’s much-loved football team leaving for L.A. has never felt more real.​Last week, team spokesman Fred Maas, advocating for a new $1.8 billion downtown stadium, advised voters in a Voice of San Diego commentary, “Whatever you do, do not let the small town undertakers send the Chargers packing and deny this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to build a multi-use convention center and stadium.”

The San Diego County Taxpayer's Association launched a media campaign to defeat measures C and D. Both of the San Diego ballot measures call for major increases in the city's tourist tax and change how tourism marketing is funded.

An “anti-housing” environment in California is one of the biggest hurdles to keeping the San Diego economy growing.​That was the conclusion of a panel on Thursday organized by the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce as part of its new regional jobs strategy.

Michele Kelm-Helgen, chair of the group that runs the new football stadium for the Minnesota Vikings, flew to San Diego recently to deliver the message that U.S. Bank Stadium, unlike so many of its NFL counterparts, already had run up the score on the economic field.

When you look at the November ballot, you will see several proposed tax increases – 17 local tax proposals throughout the county. Some are worth voting for because they are sound, smart proposals that will raise much-needed revenue for important services, including schools and infrastructure. Others, however, are risky proposals that would threaten funding for public safety, street repairs and other important services, and would leave you and your children on the hook for decades.